In Ningguo Mansion, the tense atmosphere has not diminished at all as time goes by.
Fu Yin personally went to the scene with a group of soldiers and generals under his command, but the results were not ideal.
Apart from a simple reconstruction of the scene when the murder occurred, nothing substantial was found.
There was only a pool of blood downstairs and spots of blood corresponding to the railings on the third floor. There was nothing unusual in other places.
"Second Master, the sites of the two mansions, including the gardens under construction, have been searched, and no trace of the assassins has been found."
Back in the front yard, Zhao Sheng and others came to talk.
Jia Lian angrily yelled: "How is it possible that there is no trace? Could it be that the assassin grew wings and flew away?"
Jia Lian was furious, and Zhao Sheng and others suddenly fell silent.
Weng Ziqin said hurriedly: "General Jia must not be angry. Could it be that the assassin had already escaped before General Jia surrounded your mansion?"
Jia Lian shook his head: "Master Weng doesn't know something. There are many people in the Bifu family. Even at night, all the doors are guarded.
According to the inference just now, the time when I led people to surround my mansion should not have been more than a quarter of an hour from the time of departure!
And our two mansions cover a very large area. In such a short period of time, it is absolutely impossible for the assassin to avoid everyone's eyes and ears and escape quietly.
Therefore, I firmly believe that the assassin must still be in our two houses!"
Weng Ziqin did not refute Jia Lian's words.
When he went to Tianxiang Tower just now, he also noticed that the atmosphere of this Duke's mansion was indeed different from other mansions.
If there is no one to guide him, he will most likely get lost inside.
So he replied: "Is it possible that the assassin is very familiar with your house and has planned an escape route before committing the crime and escaped over the wall?"
No matter how wide the Ningguo Mansion occupies, if you have calculated the route and made preparations, a quarter of an hour will definitely be enough to kill someone and then escape.
When Jia Lian heard this, he felt it made sense and immediately ordered Zhao Sheng: "Immediately lead your troops and check carefully along the high walls of the two mansions. If the murderer climbed over the wall to enter or exit, there will be clues left behind! If found, report it immediately."
Zhao Sheng immediately took the order and went.
In fact, Weng Ziqin did not suspect that the assassin had escaped, he was just ruling out possible scenarios.
In fact, like Jia Lian, he felt that it was impossible for the murderer to escape from the Duke's mansion in such a short time after killing someone, and that he had not been seen by anyone!
As for what Zhao Sheng and others said about going through the two mansions, I'm afraid that may not be the case!
He knew that in such a wealthy family, there were many female dependents, and there were many buildings and buildings that it was impossible for the slaves to search for. Therefore, if the assassin was hiding in the house, there was a high probability that he would not be found.
Moreover, there is the most likely situation:
There is no assassin at all, the murderer is someone from the Jia family!
Wu Zuo had quietly told him before that, judging from the fact that Jia Zhen was stabbed in the chest and there were not many signs of struggle on her body, the murderer was probably someone familiar to Jia Zhen, so she was unprepared to be stabbed from the front.
Someone familiar to Jia Zhen? Obviously, there is a possibility that the murderer is hidden in the Duke's Mansion.
In this case, even if you dig deep into the ground, you will naturally not be able to find the assassin.
He quietly glanced at the Jia family members around him and took in their different expressions. However, he did not speak out his thoughts. He just looked straight and said to Jia Lian:
"I have been an official for many years, and I have broken hundreds to hundreds of gums, so I have some experience in breaking gums.
If General Jia is trustworthy, he may have some interrogation methods, and maybe he can find out the murderer based on his motive and conditions."
When Jia Lian heard this, he asked: "Oh, who do you want to interrogate, Mr. Weng?"
"I don't dare to talk about the interrogation. I mainly want to ask General Wei Lie about his usual habits and hobbies, whether he has offended anyone recently, who else can control General Wei Lie's whereabouts, etc.
The specific manpower will naturally be those who usually serve General Wei Lie."
Jia Lian understood what Weng Ziqin meant, turned to look at Lai Sheng, and shouted: "Send someone to call all the attendants and servants who usually follow Uncle Zhen, including the maids and women who serve in the house.
!”
Lai Sheng's heart skipped a beat. In fact, he was also someone who often served Jia Zhen.
I don't dare to neglect it. If the murderer cannot be found, I'm afraid they all will not end well!
After Lai Sheng left, Jia Lian ordered Jia Rong: "Go and inform your mother and ask her to bring all the favored aunts in Brother Zhen's house to the side hall to wait for the Lord Fu Yin's questioning!"
Jia Lian's cooperative attitude made Weng Ziqin cup his hands in gratitude.
…
The interrogation started smoothly, but after a quarter of an hour, nothing useful was found.
Jia Zhen has been busy building a garden for more than a month and has hardly gone out.
Just because of building the garden, I scolded a few servants in charge...
Weng Ziqin was also very rigorous and did not let go of any possibility. He immediately asked Jia Lian to help summon all the servants and stewards to prepare for interrogation one by one.
"By the way, yesterday morning, Uncle Xiao Rong was discovered and beaten up because he was hooking up with Chunmei in the uncle's room..."
A slave with poor psychological quality, faced with the interrogation of his masters and officials, he immediately and honestly explained the recent events related to Jia Zhen.
As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately looked at Jia Rong.
Everyone in the two houses knew about the matter of Jia Rong and his son, but no one took the initiative to mention it.
Because Jia Zhen died, Jia Rong was the only heir to the Ningguo Mansion, and his status suddenly became noble, and no one would take the initiative to make things difficult for him.
However, that doesn't mean they won't speculate.
After all, Jia Rong was beaten by Jia Zhen yesterday because of her disobedience and unfilial piety, so that she did not dare to return home. As soon as she came back today, Jia Zhen was stabbed to death!
Jia Rong's expression changed drastically, and she immediately glared and said: "Slave dog, what nonsense are you talking about? I...I think you are tired of living!"
When Jia Rong first heard that Jia Zhen had been killed, he was shocked and even horrified.
But when he saw Jia Zhen's body, he felt secretly happy for some reason.
Thanks to the assassin, this young master finally managed to keep the clouds clear and see the moonlight, and finally no longer has to live under the old man's power!
Forcibly suppressing the joy in his heart, he just wanted to help Jia Lian and others find the murderer as soon as possible, and then in the midst of infinite grief, he had no choice but to inherit the family title and become the next king of Ningguo Mansion...
I just didn't expect that the murderer's methods were so secretive that he couldn't find any clues for a long time.
It wasn't until Weng Ziqin started looking for people with motives that he suddenly became worried.
Because he also noticed that he had just had a "conflict" with the old guy, and he seemed to have a motive!
Although Jia Zhen often beat and scolded him before, who told the old man to die so strangely that he died just after he came back?
Others who don't know what's right and wrong will only make assumptions about him.
So he was secretly worried. Fortunately, Uncle Lian, Second Master (Jia Zheng) and others seemed to protect him and did not mention his matter to the governor.
Who knew that this damn dog slave was so unscrupulous that he would dare to involve him?
In a hurry and anger, he couldn't help but go up and kick the slave to the ground.
No one stopped him from venting his anger.
Weng Ziqin guessed that Jia Rong should be Jia Zhen's son, but seeing that neither Jia Lian nor Jia Zheng expressed their opinions, he pretended that he could not see it.
It wasn't until Jia Rong finished venting his emotions and turned around to look at everyone that he smiled and asked, "I don't know, what's going on?"
Jia Rong did not dare to hesitate and hurriedly explained: "Because of a little misunderstanding, I was beaten by my father yesterday...
However, it was common for my father to beat me. Second Uncle Lian and Second Grandpa can both testify to this. Mr. Fu Yin must not be led astray by this little slave.
My father is a bit stricter towards me, but I have always respected him the most and would not dare to disobey him even a word, let alone do other rebellious things.
Besides, when I had the disease, I was... studying in the study, and my little boy Laifu can vouch for this!"
Jia Rong is a man of no means. He is afraid of being misunderstood for no reason. He stutters when he is in a hurry, which makes people doubt the authenticity of what he says.
Of course, Jia Lian, Jia Zheng and others still believed in him, because they all knew Jia Rong's cowardly temperament.
Patricide?
Lend him twelve courages!
But Weng Ziqin and other officials in Shuntian Prefecture did not think so.
It is not uncommon for them to see brothers fighting each other and father and son fighting each other.
However, after all, Ning Guo Mansion is different from ordinary people. Weng Ziqin did not dare to convict the young master of the mansion at will. He just smiled and said: "Young Master, don't be anxious. I am strict in making judgments. Naturally, I will not casually doubt the Young Master based on some unfounded circumstances...
"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Zhao Sheng and others running over in a hurry.
"Second Master, we have made an important discovery!"
"bring here!"
Jia Lian, Weng Ziqin and others cheered up.
Zhao Sheng took out a wrapped white cloth from his subordinates and unfolded it in front of everyone on the steps.